


Notes In Our Song

by drowninginchamomiletea



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-08
Packaged: 2018-02-12 09:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 5,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2104731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drowninginchamomiletea/pseuds/drowninginchamomiletea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nepeta is bullied and Karkat is a bystander.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

   "And even though it all went wrong, I stand before the lord of song, with nothing on my tongue but, hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah... Hallelujah, hallelu... Hallelujah, hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujaaahhhhh.....!" The last note shivers delicately in the air before fading away, leaving a beautiful yet intense atmosphere in its wake. This song... It always makes you cry. It reminds you of when you lost your best friend, Equius, to a mental illness which drove him insane and caused him to commit suicide... And which was your fault. You worried him so much that you needlessly drove him to the edge. But you're not depressed anymore! You can't hurt anyone else! ...right?  
   Sigh. Nepeta Leijon, you need to pull yourself together if you want that choir award. And if you want Karkat's love...  
   Your teensy-tinsy, eensy-weensy, little microscopic crush on the boy who stands next to you (you're a second soprano and he's an alto; you, Karkat, and a few others form the border between the two sections) seems like it might have a seed of chance in it. If you could just befriend him. But that Karkitty's a tough nut to crack. At some point, something or someone definitely made him feel the need to create a cold, hard shell to protect himself. If only you knew how to get through and let him know that you don't want to hurt him...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things happen. °^°

   "Bitch."

   "You're a stuck-up little brat and you know it!"

   "Why don't you just go to hell where you belong?"

   "But wait, we're being unfair... She's too stupid to find her way there in the first place!" They all cackle like hyenas and hit you hard on the face. The school doesn't have security cameras out back. That's why they always trap you back here. You always have to leave through the back door; your sister is deaf, so she wouldn't be able to hear if someone wanted her to move along in the line of cars. So they made her pick you up in the rear parking lot.

   "But Vris, look... The little lioness isn't quite so brave anymore. Think it's time to strike and plunder?"

   "Indeed I do."

   "But... P- please... Just leave me alone...!" More laughing. They pin you to the wall by your shoulders. Ouch! You let out a sharp cry of pain as one of your shoulders gives a loud sound somewhere between a _pop_ and a _crack_.

   "She's weakening! Let's give her the punishment she deserves."

   "Guys, plea-- aow!" Meenah is tying you down with her braids. Vriska and Terezi are punching and hitting you. Meenah is choking you. You can't breathe. Vriska suddenly disappears and reappears with what looks like a handful of rocks.

_Fine. I give up._ You start to let yourself black out. They continue to hit you. The rocks sting against your arms and face as they continue to taunt you. A few especially big, jagged ones hit your right temple and forehead. Everything seems to be going in slow motion. Just as the world is spinning and darkening, a fourth person approaches.

_No... Please, just leave me alone... The three of them have done enough to me already._ A new voice dimly registers in your brain.

   "Hey! Assholes! What the fuck are you even doing!?" You blink once and everything goes black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> °^°

   "Fuck fuck fuck fuck no no please don't die, don't die, I didn't stop them just for you to die in an ambulance, fuck fuck no please don't be dead, I don't give a fuck if there's a god to pray to, but if there is I'm praying please don't be dead, please don't die..."

   The voice is dim, a quiet, constant stream of words. _No. Shh. Let me sleep._


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are so short wow °~°  
> Anyway, MORE THINGS ARE HAPPENING.

   Panicked voices. Rushing air around you. A sense of moving fast. The sharp, sour smell of antiseptics unappealingly tainted by the metallic scent of blood. A door slamming. Someone is lifting you up, only to set you back down again. Bright lights... Ow, your eyes... And darkness again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is longer! I'm not gonna explain what's going on cause I want you to figure it out for yourself. Basically, Karkat is actually showing his emotions. For... For reasons.

   "Fuck you! All I want to know is if she'll fucking survive! And I'm sure her sister would like to know that too!"

   "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you right now! I don't know! If you'll just calm down and sit in the waiting room, I'll let you know when I get an update on her condition! She's in the OR right now."

   "...Fine." Your worried stormcloud follows you into the waiting room. Really, the thing that worried you most was her expression. She looked so content as she was blacking out, as if she just wanted everything to be black and emotionless.

   "Did he tell you how Nep-Cat's doing?" You look at Nepeta's older sister. She looks ten years older than she is. She's terrified for her sister's life. You hesitate before shaking your head.

   "She's in the operating room," you say quietly. She reads your lips and stares blankly at the wall. You think you see her mouth the word, "Nepey..."

   The doctor you were interrogating bursts in as quietly as he can and silently sprints over to you and Meulin.

   "She's going to live! You, my friend," he says, looking at you, "are a real hero. If you had gotten there as little as five or ten minutes later, she'd have suffered a very serious concussion and maybe even some brain damage. But because of you, she just had a broken arm, dislocated shoulder, sprained ankle, and moderate concussion. Of course, she's pretty scratched up, but it could've been much worse." But there's something in his voice... "And?"

   "Well... She... Her windpipe was partially collapsed. That's what they're doing in the OR." "You're fucking kidding me." The doctor holds up his hands. "Don't shoot the messenger! Hey, kid, at least she isn't dead."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Actually decent length! More things happening.

   You see beautiful, calming lights around you, flickering like candles. The flickering begins to fade into a constant glow. _No... Wait...! Those flickers comfort me... Remind me of home..._  

   Something warm is wrapped around your right hand. A light pressure rests on your left elbow. No sounds can be heard but the muffled bustling of people, people... Whatever's happening now, it _hurts._  Your throat... You can't...

   "FUCK!! DOCTOR, NURSE... WE NEED ONE OF YOU ASSHOLES UP HERE, SHE'S AWAKE!!" You flinch away from the sudden burst of sound. A woman in blue scrubs and white sneakers rushes in and buzzes around you in dizzying business, inspecting and poking and examining various things in the room and on your body. But it's all kind of a haze...

   After a bit, you realize that you're in a hospital room. You can't honestly say that you're surprised. Your hearing and vision are beginning to sharpen. You block the light with your arms... Look, your left arm is in a cast... And your left shoulder _hurts_.

   "Turn off the lights..." Why can't you hear yourself....?

   "She's in stable condition. If you two can stay with her..."

   "Turn off the lights, please... And be a little quieter..." _Damn_  your throat is on fire.

   "SHE'LL BE OKAY!?!? Thank you soooo much, nurse!!"

   "Meu... Please be quiet..." Finally someone is whispering, "...fuck."

   "Why won't you..." You decide to just shut up. Your throat hurts too much, and talking is wielding too little results. The nurse leaves. Meulin and your other companion... Is that _Karkat!?_  No... It can't be...

   "Meulin, was that your name? She's trying to fucking say something." You try again, "...Meu? Karkitty? What..." It hurts too much, so you just switch to sign language.

   "What happened? The last thing I remember was the three of them beating me up and then someone else came and yelled something at them..." Your sister hugs you as well as one can hug a person with a casted arm and shoulder, concussion, and IV needles in their arm. She's crying a little. Quietly, though. Meulin pulls back and looks at you sadly, yet still managing to look unbearably happy and relieved.

   "You lived... You're okay..."

   "What happened? Why can't I talk?" You sign.

   "Fucking asshole Peixes collapsed your windpipe," Karkat says out loud. Both girls look at him curiously and he shrugs. "I took ASL in sixth grade, it was the only language that seemed interesting."

   You silently giggle a little and then silently laugh more at the resulting look on Karkat's face.

   Now that she's satisfied you're alright, Meulin speaks. "Nep-cat, I have something I need to tell you..." You're a bit alarmed at the uncharacteristically solemn look on her face, plus the fact that she's speaking aloud.

   "I got promoted to cat care supervisor, so I have three people reporting to me now--" you smile, genuinely happy for her, "--which means I'll be working from 5:45 in the morning to 10 at night every weekday, plus 8 in the morning to 9:30 at night on weekends. And I'll also be working at the shelter that's in the next town over."

   Your face falls. She looks sad too. "They were literally the best hours available! They really work the butts off the cat care people." Wait. So that means...

   "Then who's going to care for me when I'm well enough to come home?" You sign the words in a fidgety and unhappy way.

   "I... I'm not entirely sure. Do you have any friends that could help?" I shake my head quickly with my eyes squeezed shut, trying hard not to think about Equikitty.

   Karkat shifts in his chair, interrupting the tense moment.

   "Um... Sorry if this seems a little weird, but I'm pretty sure I'm at least an acquaintance. If no one else is willing..." He falls into silence, red-faced, looking at his muddy grey and red sneakers-- which you just now realize have blood on them.

   Your blood.

   You mouth the words, "He saved my life. I think I can trust him," to Meulin, and she nods and smiles at you.

   "Alright, well, I start the new schedule on Monday, and you get out on Sunday, so that'll work purrfectly!! They're going to give you a wheelchair, because your arms obviously aren't in the greatest shape to operate even one crutch." You laugh silently again, just realizing that your right leg is in a cast and heavily bruised.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the first day of my babies hangin out  
> They are beautiful children and I love them  
> Omg this ship is just so fluffy I can't stand it
> 
> Also, KARKAT SMILING!? *GASP* NO!! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!! *tiny smirk* It's possible now, my friends.

   "...aaand here's the keys, the front door key is the one with the kitty face on it, the key to the medicine cabinet is the one with the Rx symbol, and the kitty food cabinet is the one with the paw print! Everything else has a latch lock or a keyless lock on the handle!" Meulin looks almost sickeningly cheerful as she drops the merrily chinking key ring into your hand.

   "Okay, and what if shit happens and I lose the key ring?"

   "There's another one in the big green travel cup on the top shelf of the cup cabinet. There's also a mini first aid kit, a flashlight, and a couple of other tiny essentials in there. Well, I'm off!" Before you have time to say anything else, she skips out the door into the dark blue dawn. You stand there, irritated, before remembering about the path to the roof that you saw.

   You stick your phone and the keys in your pocket and quietly go out the front door. You walk over to the cherry tree sitting next to the house and hop up onto the first very low branch before skillfully climbing it and clumsily slipping over the gap to scramble onto the roof. You then walk slowly and carefully to the flat area and sit down, cross-legged, to watch the sun come up. This always puts you in a good mood. You think it's good for you.

   You smile.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teh children are going to be forging bonds soon.

   You slowly and gently are raised up from your deep, warm, drug-induced sleep. Your little freckly pink nose scrunches up... You smell bacon!! But shouldn't Meu be at work...? Wait, no! Karkitty is making you breakfast!! Hrmm... You snuggle down into your comforter a little farther and cuddle with your kitty Pounce, who must have gotten cold and crawled in with you last night.

   You groggily open your eyes and see that it's snowing lightly against the pale indigo winter morning. You guess you'll have to wait until Karkitty comes to get you; you can't even stand, let alone walk down the stairs. Getting bored, you grab your tablet and stylus from your bedside table. It's hard to draw with a cast on your arm, even though you've been practicing (Meu brought you your tablet at the hospital). Your shoulder hurts, too, but not as much as it did.

   Pushing your pillows back against the headboard with difficulty, you lean back and doodle a few little chibi Pounces in various positions of sleeping, jumping, playing, climbing, and eating. You then do an actual drawing of the sleeping Pounce, who is curled up in a tight ball just underneath the blanket next to you. You have a heating pad there for her and she loves it with a passion!

   While you do the lineart, you smile and sing to yourself a little inside yourself head. 

   When you begin the background and base colors, you start thinking about how nice Karkitty is to help you out while you're healing. He really is kind...

   During the shading, you start to think about why your social life took such a nose dive into fricking awful. Following the advice of your therapist, whenever you think about this you always start with the 'when.' Well... That's another story.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Learning about Nep's troubled past.

 NEPETA'S JOURNAL:

 

_Equius always did have a delicate mind. Everything in his life always had to be ordered and straightforward; he simply couldn't stand even the smallest abnormality or inaccuracy. He also had severe anxiety problems. He worried about me way too much._

_Meanwhile, I was depressed. Shortly before, my mother had died of the breast cancer which my doctors told me was almost certain to strike in me as well. Meulin was the lucky one. She was very unlikely to get any sort off cancer. I just didn't see the point in living anymore. I had a dead mother, a mentally unstable best friend whom I had to work hard to prevent from committing suicide, a completely terrible and nonviable OTP, and was almost certain to have inherited the condition that left me and my sister orphans._

_I began hiding in my room all day, more often than not sitting staring out the window or at my tablet screen, eyes blank and glazed over. I fought through school, wondering why the fuck I was still even troubling to go every day, came home, randomly jotted down fake answers to homework without even looking at the practice problem I was responding to, and commenced to staring into space, often staying there until the odd hours of the morning. I withdrew from my friends, not realizing that I was driving Equius insane to the point of suicide. I simply didn't see it. I also didn't see that the absence of my usual cheerfulness was turning my other friends' emotions inward, too. Terezi. Another one of my very best friends. One of the girls who almost killed me just a few days ago._

_I don't know how I clawed my way out of the deep, deep grave I'd dug myself. I think it was Equius' death that jolted me out of the fog. I didn't go to the funeral. I knew he hated me for what I'd done._

_So I was only going to school now for hopes of the future, only looking forward towards what could be, rather than what was. I hope to learn what I need to know to get a job, have a life, earn a living to go to college. I just want to live._

 

==> Reader: Notice the tearstains.

   You could barely make out the last couple of paragraphs because of the density of the tearstains blotting the green ink. You take note of this and realize that this was a life-changing happening in this girl's life. You almost cry, too.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast. Stop and read this while eating bacon, eggs and toast. It enhances the effect.
> 
> 8/25/2014 UPDATE: Next chapter is coming along slowly but surely! I will never abandon this fic, though. It's my baby and I just cannot at the moment, I just can't

   You walk softly down the upstairs hallway to Nepeta's room and hear the now-familiar tapping sounds of her drawing on her tablet. You knock on the door and she knocks on the wall twice, meaning you can come in. If she had knocked once, you would have to wait until she knocked twice. If she hadn't knocked, it would mean that you had to go wake her up.

   You go in and say, "morning," in your usual growl as you unfold the wheelchair. She smiles cheerily at you. When you have it open, she slides onto it with slight difficulty and grabs her tablet and stylus from on top of Pounce, who meows unhappily. 

   You already have a plan worked out for getting down the stairs. It might be a bit awkward, but it'll get her to the breakfast table. You'll carry her to the table and sit her down on a chair, then go back to the top of the staircase to carry the wheelchair to her. 

  You were right. It's insanely awkward. But at least it works. When you ask her if you can carry her down the stairs, her face colors up but she nods and gives you the same happy little grin she keeps giving everyone. You wonder how she manages to be so happy as you carry her bridal style down the staircase and deposit her on the chair in the dining room. You're really glad you have the chance for your face to cool down to pale cream again while you fetch the wheelchair.

   When you get back to the table, you set down the wheelchair next to Nepeta and sit down across the table from her. A few moments after you start eating, you notice that she isn't eating much. 

   "Um, Nepeta? Why aren't you eating?" She stares at you for a moment, sseemingly pondering what she's about to say. 

   She hesitantly signs, "Why... Why did you even say you were willing to help me?"

   You're a bit confused. "I... Don't think I understand what you mean."

   "Nobody cares about me but Meulin! There's never been an exception to that before. But here you come along and actually volunteer to help me out 24/7 for a month!"

   "...Because you're a human being? I'm not a fucking barbarian, it's not like I'm just going to leave you here alone to starve to death when you can't stand up for more than five seconds. Also you're really nice to me in choir, even though I don't deserve it at all from the way I treat you."

   She continues to shoot you thoughtful looks as she begins putting scrambled eggs on the buttered toast. After she lays strips of bacon on top of that and takes a few bites, she signs, "Thank you. There's certain platonic tragedies that I don't want to remember, but you and Meu are really the only friends I have right now. Or at least the only people who don't hate me."

   You almost smile at her and say that you'd always be glad to help. Almost.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time skip! This is a month later, when they've become good friends.

   Over the next month you become great friends with Karkat. The two of you spend every day hanging out, talking, laughing, watching TV and movies, playing board games... He even wheels you outside sometimes and you both just sit, watching the clouds and the birds passing by. You're so glad your voice is beginning to return. You were starting to go crazy keeping all your thoughts and feelings inside instead of easily and freely expressing them. It also makes you so happy just to be able to chat idly with your friend without wearing your hands out to the point of uselessness. However, you are still a bit weak, so it can hurt to talk for too long or too loudly. Your shoulder and arm have mostly healed, and the break on your leg, which wasn't as bad, isn't in a cast anymore. You can walk, but the doctor advised you to take it easy for a couple more weeks.

   Karkat is a real sweetie on the inside, just like you were always sure. He's a bit like those candies that have a sour, bitter shell and a soft, sweet center. He's a very good listener and gives good advice, even if he presents it sarcastically. He likes to read and writewrite and sing like you, and he's already a skilled videographer. He's actually gotten a few gigs with the local play company, and you can tell from the angle and lighting and clarity that the person behind that camera knows and loves what he's doing. He's strong, and he says it's from karate but you secretly think that it's actually from beating up everyone's school bullies, for which he is notorious.

   One day, at a doctor's visit, you are told that you can go back to school. Karkat insists that it's a good thing, but you're not so sure...

   "But.. What about Terezi and Vriska and Meenah??" You almost shriek at him, terrified, as the two of you stand at the bus stop.

   "I told you," Karkat says in a level voice, "I talked with the counselor about it and he changed your schedule so it's the same as mine. They only had to change your history teacher, and you don't have to worry about that, Mr. Borran's great. Anyway, we can walk from class to class together. I don't think they'll be coming anywhere near me after the beating I gave them. Also, they got suspended for three months. I seriously can't believe they weren't arrested in juvie, or at least expelled." 

   You shrug and give an unconvincing smile that looks more like a grimace. "Yeah.."

   Karkat makes a breathy, impatient noise with his nose. "Nepeta, they're under house arrest! How are they supposed to get anywhere near you!?" Just then, Kanaya walks up and gasps, dashing in her heels and maxi dress to hug you. 

   "You have a LOT of explaining to do, sweetie! Where were you?? I was worried sick! You were gone for a month, do you really think I wouldn't notice? What happened, why do you have a cast on your arm? And what's that big scar on your neck?" Kanaya's warm British voice sounds shocked and relieved as she fusses over you, fixing your hat and hair, straightening your jacket, and inspecting your cast and neck. Karkat gently pulls her away and tells her what happened, assuring her that you're all right and that he is taking care of you. 

   Of course, Kanaya, ever the teenage virgin mother, still makes sure that you are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed before she is satisfied. The bus finds you and Karkat standing under the strict supervision of the motherly and protectively hovering Kanaya. You love Kanaya; she's just one of those friends with whom you are always sure you're safe. And thus your threesome boards the bus with some trepidation about the day ahead.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *loudly and obnoxiously slurps root beer float* It's back to school for little Nep and her friend!

   While Nepeta was sick at home, Karkat told her, the new quarter had begun at school. He informed her of their new enrichment and exploratory classes and told her that he had been given the task of staying in the library with her after school and helping her catch up with her schoolwork. **(A/N If you were wondering, Karkat had been going to school and coming to check on Nep and make her food at lunch, and he came after school to help her out and make sure she stayed out of trouble.)**

   The first day back is rough for you. Everyone is nosy about where you went, and you start using your bad voice as an excuse not to tell them the whole story. You jump and squeak every time someone taps you on the shoulder, still remembering the many times Vriska and her gang had done the same before teasing and taunting you. It seems like you spend all day hiding behind Karkat, with him telling you to "just fucking man up, I know you could beat up any of these fuckasses before they had the chance to react." But you can't. You're just too nervous.

   

   0 Period (Enrichment):

   Your new enrichment is coding, which quite excites Karkat. He apparently loves coding, even though he sucks at it. You're allowed to choose any coding language you want to learn. You choose HTML and Karkat chooses Java. By the and of the period, you've already learned the basics and are very proud of yourself! Karkat still hasn't even gotten halfway through the first lesson and storms about it as you laugh lightly. 

 

   1st Period (Exploratory 1-Gym):

   You self-consciously tug at the completely unnecessarily short gym shorts and sigh. Crossing your arms tightly over your chest (the shirt is loose but very short), you scoot out of the locker room and sit down in your attendance line, hugging your knees and blushing with your face hidden. You're not used to outfits this skimpy. You can't believe they made this the girls' gym uniform. Kanaya emerges and looks gorgeous in her uniform. As usual. By luck, there is no one else with a last name starting with 'L,' so Kanaya is right behind you. The instant she sits down, you spin around and say, "Can you believe these mewniforms!? They're so skimpy!!"

   "Yes, they are rather revealing, aren't they? I actually fixed mine by adding a little material to the hem of the shorts. Enough to be comfortable, yet not very noticable. I could do yours, if you'd like."

   "Would you? Thanks, Kanaya!" You grin at her and she smiles back.

 

   2nd Period (Exploratory 2-Choir):

   Mr. Mencherto informs you sternly that you missed a performance and you are behind on the new songs. This doesn't make you happy at all, as you have difficulty learning them quickly anyways. Karkat offers to help you out, and you accept gratefully. He's a sweet kid, really. He's just sad.

 

   3rd Period (Science):

   "I heard that she got beaten up by a gang and almost bled to death in an alley."

   "I heard her saying she was almost choked and beaten to death just behind the school! Hah! As if, amirite?"

   "Halliey told me that she heard what's his face, the asshole kid, uhm... Karkat! Anyway, she heard him saying that the poor little bitch got nearly drowned in the school's rainwater collection reservoir! Not like she didn't have it coming..."

   The whispers float around you, weaving between the shamelessly hateful stares aimed straight at you. You try to ignore them as you and Karkat work together to put together the simple circuit, but it's close to impossible. Soon you give up and just let them soak into and through you, like you're a sponge that was thrown into the ocean. Oh well. At least sponges float for a little while before they sink.

 

   4th Period (LA/English):

   Today you're writing poems  which exaggerate whatever emotion you feel while writing. You've just been sitting in a rich stew of depression and a desire for the day to end, so yours is pretty easy. When Karkat sees it, he voices his concern about your emotional coping skills.

   "Are you sure you're ready to be back at school?" He says, looking at you doubtfully.

   "...Yeah. I think I just need time to readjust to the atmosphere."  _The fact that I'm on my period doesn't help, though,_ you think to yourself. You suppose you could've waited until PMS left for the month, but you just didn't think of it at the time.

   "...All right, if you're sure," he says, still looking highly shrewd.

 

   5th Period (History):

   French and Indian War. Boston Tea Party. The Columbian Exchange. People being too bored out of their minds to even interrogate you about your absence. All together, a much welcome hour of peace in a chaotic day.

 

   6th Period (Geometry): 

   This is the class you love. This is the class where no one judges you for asking a question or getting the wrong answer, no one cares if you went down the complete wrong track when trying to solve a problem, no one gives a crap if it takes you five tries and you still don't get it right. Also, this is the class where everyone cries your name when you come back from a long absence and rushes over to welcome you back and check if you're okay, ask how you are, inquire where you were and what happened. This is the class you learn in. This is your favorite class of the day. It's always nice to end the day on a happy note.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I'm back. Sorry I was gone for so long, but there was a lot going on in school and I just couldn't find the time to write much. I probably won't be posting new chapters regularly. Ever. Just because life. Deal with it. But there will be new chapters.  
> Also, I'm starting to feel suuuuper uninspired telling the story in the second person, so I'm switching over to my usual first person.

   Things are much better. Much... Much better. After that first day back, things got way better. People didn't pay a lot of attention to me after the first few days, and I got a little peace. I couldn't forget what had happened, or being lame for a month, because how could I? It just isn't the kind of thing you forget.

   The end of finals week. No pun intended, but... Finally. The end. The end of the year. I feel like there was a huge weight on the back of my neck, pressing me down and making it hard to breathe. Now, as I fill in the last bubble on the last test of the last year of middle school, setting down my pencil on the desk feels like pressing a button to dissolve that weight. I lean back in my chair, stretching and yawning quietly. The sunlight streaming through the classroom windows and illuminating the dust floating lazily in the air has never felt this sweet.

   Karkat catches my gaze from across the room and winks. I grin and stick out my tongue at him in response before he can get back to finishing the test. My eyes drift slowly across the ceiling, which is illuminated by the soft glow of sunlight reflected off of the white tri-fold anti-cheating blinds on each desk. After a bit, I allow my eyelids to slide shut, leaving only my tapping and fidgeting fingers to betray my wakefulness. The tempting, sweet-smelling warmth of the summer air winds its way through the cracked window nearby, letting me drift into beautiful dreams of playing by the river and laughing with my friends outside the ice cream place in town. I can't wait to escape to that.

   Soon enough, the bell jumps me out of my fantasies and back to the classroom, reminding me of how excited I am!! I leap up, shove my chair under the desk, and dash over to Karkitty's side. We walk a little behind the main surge of people so that I can get my little bag from outside the classroom without getting kicked around too much. 

   "So, you finished before the bell after all," I note, grinning, in a happy daze.

   "Yeah! Let's go, before the bus leaves!" He grabs my hand and starts to run, pulling me along behind him. I can, of course, keep up more than easily. 

   "Oh, you two!! No running in the halls, you know that!" A very British, very disapproving voice appears behind us, followed not long thereafter by a slightly winded Kanaya. "And I believe we were planning to get ice cream at the dairy freeze in town to celebrate the end of middle school, correct?"

   "Yeah!! Hey, Karkitty, you didn't forget, did you?"

   "Huh? No, of course not! Now come on, the bus is gonna leave without us!"

   We catch the bus right on time, then walk from our stop to downtown Crossingspath. Small town, big heart. I know it's cliché, but more often than not, it's true. The local dairy freeze isn't yet crowded with middle and high schoolers, so there isn't much of a line.

   Our ice cream comes up quickly, yet Kanaya still finds an excuse to slip into the consignment shop next door while we wait. Of course, she comes out with a new peach and white polka dotted parasol and flowery pastel blouse. She must have traded in her green and white ruffled shirt from before to get the new one. She's donned her dark-lensed, lilac-framed sunglasses as well. She accepts her ice cream from me with thanks and the three of us spend the rest of the afternoon happily splurging our money in the various small stores around town.

   I am truly happy today. Truly, truly happy.


End file.
